Looking for something to occupy the kids during the holiday period? At the end of the Champs Elysées (just next to the Place de la Concorde), right by the Xmas village of  wooden huts selling all sorts of, er, stuff, you’ll find the magical and icy world of Ice Magic. However, this kind of magic comes at a price…

Scenes from around the world, carved into ice. Impressive perhaps, but why does it have to be so expensive? It looks like the normal admission price of 10€ (adults)/8€ (students, kids over 14)/5€ (younguns) has been keeping people away in droves, as the organisers have set up reduced rates until 16th December. But they’re not valid on the weekend. Or Friday. And you have to be a Paris resident. Bah!

The official site nevertheless says that “the organisers have made a considerable effort to reduce prices compared to last year,” which is true – adult entrance cost 14€ in 2009 (14€!). With the current financial crisis, prices are down around 30% this year, and children under 4 don’t pay at all (thank goodness!.

Twenty ice-sculptors from Canada, Finland, Lithuania, Austria, Poland and little old France have made the exhibits, and the whole set-up took two weeks! If you want to see 450 tons of ice, or you just adore walking around at -6°C, please go ahead.

Ice Magic is on the Champs Elysées, next to the Place de la Concorde until 3rd January 2011

Official site: www.icesculpture.fr